Stocks adrift in extended session

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Stocks tilted south in late trading Friday following a soft, holiday-shortened session in which major indexes failed to build on mild early strength.

The tech-laden Nasdaq-100 After Hours Indicator, which tracks the evening activity of the index's leading stocks, narrowly extended the decline.

Earlier, the Nasdaq Composite shed 9 points to close at 1,479 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day down 36 points at 8,896. See Market Snapshot.

Leading Nasdaq's most actives by a long shot early, shares of Sun Microsystems
SUNW, +3.85%
soared 32 cents, or 8.1 percent, to end the day at $4.29. After the close, the stock remained relatively busy, sloughing off 2 cents during the tame extended session.

Cisco Systems
CSCO, +1.85%
however, took the most-active spot late as shares dropped the dime it added in regular trading.

Rounding out the action in the tech sector, Intel
INTC, +1.49%
jockeyed with Cisco and Sun for the top volume spot as shares drifted fractionally lower.

Finally, one of the hardest hit issues in the early going was United Airlines
UAL, -1.33%
which lost more than a quarter of its stock value. Triggering the selling, mechanics rejected a pay cut, stalling its plan to keep the troubled carrier out of bankruptcy protection. The evening session provided no respite either as shares nudged barely lower. See full story.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.